For two cacti obsessives, you’re unlikely to meet two less prickly people: Erin and Carl Falzon of Cacti Vision are warm, friendly and knowledgeable about all things arid plants and are only too happy to share that passion.
“A little over 15 years ago we started as collectors of cacti — we loved cacti! Mad collectors, we had to have them all. And then 10 years ago we decided we loved it so much why not make it our lives and our lives’ work? So we investigated the idea of having a small shopfront,” Erin explains. “We tested the idea with a small shopfront; we loved it and it grew. That flourished and now we have this beautiful nursery and amazing business.”
“Arid plants is a really good way to describe what we specialise in. Arid exotic plants; exotic being from outside of Australia. We find that a lot of the euphorbias, for example, are endemic to Africa, usually the east coast of Africa. I find that some of the coolest, craziest plants come from Madagascar; there’s a lot from there that we really love. And then North and South America we find a lot of the cereus varieties, and agaves as well,” Erin explains. “We focus on drought-tolerant plants, and the majority of those we have here are exotics, so any xeriscape landscaping and soft landscaping that we work with has a lot of your exotic cacti, aloes, agaves, euphorbias and succulents. We really enjoy the odd critters of the plant world; it’s really nice to have that niche here.”
“In terms of the style they [cacti] suit, it could be Mediterranean, it could be Mexican, it could be modern — there’s so many different styles of homing. And they’re so architectural; they can really uplift an area in the right way really nicely. They’re like Goldilocks: in the right environment they work ‘just right’. And they’re extremely low maintenance, so we find there is a higher demand for them as feature and statement pieces for homes and workplaces, hotels, lobbies. It’s really cool to see that.”
“I think it’s really important to acknowledge the growth rates because there’s a lot of expectations about how cacti will grow. Some people have this misconception that they all grow really slowly which isn’t the case. If you put one variety of succulent, like a euphorbia variety, into the ground, you’ll potentially be quite surprised by the fact that it’s grown 40cm a year,” Erin says. “We really try and educate people on growth rates, the environment, whether or not the plant they’re looking at will be a good option for their indoor space — which can be quite challenging for people sometimes — and pests, diseases and soil. They’re some of the things we like to help people with.”
“I think the biggest surprise about starting this hobby as a business is the amazing people that we’ve met. A lot of our customers have become close friends and other people who are just collectors like us engage with us in some really fun relationships. And we’ve learnt a lot. For example, when we started out with Cactus Vision 10 years ago we really clung on to some older community members in the industry, including one gentleman who wrote a glossary book on cacti. We learnt a lot from him,” Erin states. “There are cactus societies in each state and I really urge people to get involved with those communities because you can learn so much from one another and share stories.”
159 Unwins Bridge Rd, Tempe NSW 2044
contactus@cactusvision.com.au
cactusvision.com.au
